The Art and Science of Life

Description

The following article was written by Gwen Randall-Young. Gwen is an
author and psychotherapist in private practice. For more articles
and information on her books and CDs go to www.gwen.ca.

The Art and Science of Life

Despite exciting interdisciplinary encounters, in the western world a schism
yet exists between science and spirituality. There is still some discordance
between hard evidence about how human life operates, and soft evidence about
the meaning, or deeper purpose of life. Interestingly, the schism exists
only within the mind of the thinker, who must, of necessity, separate
himself (or his perceptions) from the unified whole in order to even
formulate his schema. There is a huge difference between Descartes, I think,
therefore I am , and the rationalists I think, therefore it is.

Descartes philosophized that it is in thinking that we become aware of our
being. It is true that thinking must occur in order for one to realize his
or her independent existence. The newborn does not realize existence
independent of the Mother. It is also true that as we grow, what we think
about ourselves can limit or enhance our being. If I believe all things are
possible, then like Edison, Einstein, Gandhi, Jesus or Mother Theresa, I may
stay focused on my path no matter what. If I believe I am not musical and
could never learn to play the piano, I would not even try. My belief becomes
my truth - even if it is wrong.

The rational scientist chooses a small, manageable playing field. He makes
up the rules. If it is not measurable, observable, recordable, i.e. real in
his mind, it is not true. The tools used, however, will determine what is
found. An x-ray reveals something different than what is seen with a CAT
scan, while an MRI reveals information beyond what the others could detect.
So, if we use a scientific, rational mind as a tool for understanding
reality, as wonderful a tool as it is, much will remain undetected.

Science will never isolate God, love, or spirit, because they are
non-material. That much is true. However, the leap to the conclusion that
these are unscientific and thus not real, reduces science itself to a purely
utilitarian exercise. It might be possible to do an in depth profile of
every movement, every muscle contraction within the body of the ballerina as
she dances Swan Lake. That would do nothing to explain how the audience is
touched by her grace and passion. One could do a highly technical analysis
of the voice, the sound waves, and the acoustics in the concert hall, and
still know nothing of why the opera singer brought tears to the eyes of her
audience.

The science of life is profoundly fascinating. The exploration of the human
body is as vast and wondrous an undertaking as the exploration of the
Universe. However, human life itself, is art. Art is defined as any human
activity that is the product of, and appeals primarily to the imagination.
Imagination is the power of forming pictures in the mind of things not
present to the senses; a creation of the mind. Quantum physics suggests that
everything may be a creation of the mind. This is a dilemma for the
scientist, who has limited his scope of exploration to things he believes to
exist independently of any individual mind, including his own! This
effectively eliminates God, spirituality, eternity, intuition, divinity,
soul anything beyond the biology and psychology of body and mind.

The scientist will allow that much exists in the physical Universe that is
beyond our ability to detect as yet, but would not suggest that unless we
scientifically validate it, it is not there. Humans have senses and the
ability to tune into other levels of reality for which, currently, there are
no scientific measurements. Animals have the ability to sense a coming
earthquake, and have likely done so long before humans inhabited the earth.
Dogs can hear sounds which are beyond the range of human hearing. If animals
have the ability to perceive things that are not perceivable in an expected
sense, it stands to reason that humans would also have this capability.
Those grounded in reality may roll their eyes when someone feels the
presence of God in their lives, senses the energy in a room, or just knows
that some synchronistic event is profoundly significant.

Life is art. Human evolution has played itself out on the canvas of the
Earth. We are not separate, distinct, from all who have come before. We are
part of a flow of life DNA which combines and recombines in different forms.
We carry with us some part of our ancestors, as some part of our being
continues on in our descendants. Imagination, myth and metaphor allow us to
tap into the train of consciousness that is the evolving human mind. Like
the tail of a comet, human consciousness is a path behind a moving life
force a primeval force set in motion eons ago, pulsing along as an unfolding
future. Myth and metaphor awaken something in consciousness that cannot be
named, only felt. It carries us all the way back to the time when there were
no words, no language, no science, only life itself unselfconscious,
unanalyzed. Yet long before the dawning of rationality, there was passion,
love, intuitive knowing - without which humans would not have survived.

Perhaps it is science that is not real. It is a stepping apart from life, an
applying tools and rules to try to understand. When we look at a painting,
we can know the specifics of the colors and techniques used, how the
painting was created, and how it will endure from a physical standpoint. No
matter how sophisticated our analysis, we will still know nothing of the
artists intent, or consciousness at the time it was created. We will know
nothing about how the work impacts viewers, or changes their consciousness.
But these are precisely the aspects which are most meaningful, most real,
most alive.

So it is with life. The parts that are most meaningful, real and alive, are
the most elusive.

They are aspects, the dimensions of which are unbounded, at times
indefinable, and often cannot be named. These are the aspect we must embrace
if we are to experience the fullness of being human. All that can be
measured is that which is temporary. When our time runs out, when the pulse
winds down, when we are taking our last breath, all of the rules,
definitions, proofs and certainties will mean nothing. Death is only the end
of the aspects of life that can be measured. All that is timeless, eternal,
and true, will be there as it always was, and if we have prepared ourselves,
we will embrace it more fully than ever before.